Lanka UNP MPs go on ‘red alert’ as New Delhi suddenly pushes $ 886000, Committee activated to resolve strife
File Photo by Onlanka News
Sri Lanka’s opposition UNP party MPs are now agitated by a large financial grant suddenly given to party coffers by New Delhi.
The financial endowment is reportedly around $ 886000 (SL Rs. 100 million).
A weekend Sinhala language newspaper “Irudina” alleged that the funds were donated by New Delhi during UNP Leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s July 19 tour to India.
The MPs are rattled as to why such a huge sum of money has suddenly been passed to the UNP and are planning to request clarifications from the leadership. Also, they are planning to question the fate of the funds received and ‘where the money went’-to the party fund or to someone’s personal accounts, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe began his tour to India on July 19 and returned on July 30. Immediately upon his return to Sri Lanka, Mr Wickremesinghe also travelled to the southern city of Matara to meet the family of UNP member who committed suicide in front the UNP head-quarters. Rienzi Algama (60) of southern Weligama, self immolated himself on July 26 demanding the ‘UNP not to implement the proposed reforms.’
The UNP has now appointed a special four member committee and has begun a dialogue in earnest to resolve the party’s internal rife, party sources said. UNP Chairman Gamini Jayawickreme Perera, Gen Secretary Tissa Attanayake, MPs Joseph Michael Perera and Karu Jayasuriya are the committee members and they have now begun discussions with members, sources said.
Asian Tribune
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If this report is true then I strongly denounce the act of India interfering in the internal politics of SL. It is an act of bribery to assist the battered UNP against the current strong government of MR. UNP by accepting this bribe will be now under the influence of India like a puppet to carry out India’s policies against the current government of SL, in times of disagreements. India would secretly continue to fund UNP to create internal strife in SL, disunity, chaos and eventual downfall of the current government.
In Britain, USA and some Western countries such party funding is prevented by law. This is to prevent political parties being influenced by the donor countries to carry out their policies compromising the sovereignty of such countries to their detriment.
Is it not high time that our current patriotic government of HE President Mahinda Rajapaksa decree by an Act of Parliament such party funding by foreign governments be made illegal urgently? Otherwise SL is in great danger of being under foreign domination indirectly through corrupt influence of foreign governments’ vested interests which is detrimental to the rapid development of our motherland.
India is never our true friend. Indira Gandhi set the ball rolling by her harbouring, funding, training and releasing on SL the evil terrorist armed LTTE insurrection which set back our economic progress by more than 30 years. The Manmohan Singh government is carrying out the same evil policies more subtly. They abhor the Chinese influence and aid to SL to rapidly develop our country in the aftermath of the total annhilation of the evil LTTE terorists. India and Norway owe us billions of dollars in compensation for the economic destruction of SL through the LTTE.
India believes itself to be the superpower in SE Asia. Other nations in SE Asia are under pressure from India to kow-tow to its policies. This is detrimental to the sovereign status of these countries. India in turn is under the influence of USA and Britain so that it becomes a catspaw of the Imperial West unwittingly to carry out the imperial West’s policies in SE Asia. In turn India will be bribed in various forms such as a seat in an enlarged UN Security Council etc.
It is my plea to the MR government to urgently enact a law to stop political parties in SL being funded by Foreign governments.